Still, there's no place the Lakers would rather be than the spot where they always enjoy purple and gold status.

Beginning with a game against Atlanta on Tuesday night, the Lakers will play three of their next four games and six of their next nine at Staples Center, where they are a robust 11-2 as the home team.

They are only 5-10 on the road in the wake of their just-concluded Grammy trip, on which they won three games and lost three.

"It's a step in the right direction to be able to get a couple of road wins, especially the Boston one," Lakers center Andrew Bynum said Monday, referring to an 88-87 victory Thursday. "At home we just have to keep protecting our home court and get a little bit better on the road and our [overall] record will improve a little bit."

Going 3-3 on a road trip with this team is definitely a big improvement of our road record. I am hoping that since we will be home for a bit, that we can start racking up more wins. No more time to sacrifice games. They gotta start thinking of having a good record going into the playoffs.